Trade union leader Jack Jones dies aged 96

Trade unionist Jack Jones, former general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, has died aged 96, his son said.

Jack Jones: Former TUC General Secretary Norman Willis said Mr Jones would be remembered as a "fighter" for ordinary people. Photo: PA

7:00AM BST 22 Apr 2009

Mick Jones said his father died in London shortly after 9.30pm on Tuesday night.

He said: "He passed away very peacefully in a very nice care home in Peckham.

"He was active until the very end and had a good innings."

Jack Jones was the son of a docker, born in Liverpool in 1913. His family was poor and he left school at the age of 14 to work as an engineering apprentice.

He joined the Labour party and the Amalgamated Society of Engineers and soon became involved in union activities, later joining his father as a Liverpool docker.

He joined the TGWU and was elected a shop steward. As his involvement in unions and politics grew, he organised protest meetings against fascists.

After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Mr Jones became active in the Aid Spain campaign, joining the International Brigades.

He fought for many months before being wounded in the Ebro battle in 1938.

He later rose to be general secretary of the union from 1969 to 1978 when it was one of the most powerful unions in the country.

In his heyday he became a household name, better known, and certainly more influential, than most Cabinet ministers.

His frequent trips to Downing Street for the familiar and regular beer and sandwiches sessions, no particular attraction to a man never noted for self-indulgence, invariably provoked speculation, usually accurately, that some major industrial settlement was to be achieved, benefiting the workers.

Former TUC General Secretary Norman Willis said Mr Jones would be remembered as a "fighter" for ordinary people.

He said: "I worked with Jack in the T&G and through the TUC for many years.

"Jack Jones was a great fighter for ordinary people whether they were at work or unemployed or later as pensioners.

"He never forgot the underdog and will be remembered with affection."

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber described Mr Jones as a "true giant of the labour movement", who was "utterly dedicated to delivering respect and social justice for working people".

He said: "He was a passionate internationalist showing raw courage on the battlefields of the Spanish Civil War.

"After his working life as a trade unionist, he became a champion for pensioners, holding ministers to account without fear or favour and urging governments to deliver dignity to the elderly.

"He always saw trade unionism not as a narrow interest group but as a force for social progress, with a partnership with a labour government - for all its stresses and strains - as the best way of achieving advance.

"His countless friends and admirers of every generation will lament his loss."